EULOGY ON QUETELET. 181 



man in general; second, with respect to physical qnalities. He then 

 proceeds to examine all that relates to the life of man ; his birth, death, 

 strength, height, agility, «&c. We give some extracts: "The apprecia- 

 tion of the physical qualities of the average man is by no means difScult, 

 either when measured directly or through their effects ; it is quite other- 

 wise with the moral and intellectual qualities, though they also, to some 

 extent, may be judged ofthroug-h the effects they produce." "Man pos- 

 sesses at his birth the germ of all the qualities which are successively 

 developed, to a greater or less degree ; prudence loredominates in one, 

 imagination in another, avarice in a third. We sometimes observe great 

 size in proportion to age, or a precocious imagination, or unusual vigor in 

 old age, and the fact alone that we notice these exceptional cases proves 

 that we are conscious of a general law of development, and even make 

 use of it to form our judgment." The author successively considers the 

 average man, first, with reference to letters and the fine arts; second, in 

 relation to the medical or natural sciences. "The consideration of the 

 average man," he says, " is so important in medical science that it is almost 

 impossible to judge of the condition of an individual without comparing 

 it with that of a fictitious being, supposed to be in the normal state; 

 in fact, the average man we have been considering." Third, in relation to 

 philosophy and morals; and, fourth, in relation to politics. It is quite 

 curious to see how he regards political systems. He is opposed to 

 the system which consists, when there are two dominant ideas in a 

 country, in taking a kind of mean between the two, but would found 

 a system upon the elements common to all parties ; or, where there was 

 divergence, upon the ideas held by the largest number. " Govern- 

 ments," he says, " have their states of equilibrium, which may be either 

 stable or unstable. The stable equilibrium exists when, after action 

 and reaction of every kind, a government constantly returns to its nor- 

 mal condition. If, on the contrary, from aTiy cause whatever, a govern- 

 ment tends to diverge more and more from its normal condition, chang- 

 ing constantly, without sufflcient motive, its form and institutions, its 

 end is near. Revolutions are only the reactions of the people, or a 

 party, against abuses, real or supposed, and would not take place if the 

 provocation did not exist. The liberty of the press, singularly enough, 

 by facilitating these reactions, renders great revolutions almost impos- 

 sible, for it does not allow forces to accumulate. The reaction is mani- 

 fested immediately after the action, sometimes almost before the action 

 has time to propagate itself." This essay gave its author a liigh place 

 in the scientific world. It was translated into both English and German. 

 We have not space to notice other papers upon statistics, which appeared 

 in 184:5-' J:G-'48. He was happy in his application of mathematics to sta- 

 tistical questions. He formulated the now well-known binomial theorem, 

 and insisted, more especially in his last years, on its remarkable gener- 

 ality. He organized the first statistical congress, which was held in Brus- 

 sels in 1853, and was appointed its president. He was also president of 

 the commission of statistics of the kingdom of Belgium. On account 



